Playing Limped Pots in Tournament Play

Limped pots seem to be a favorite of tournament players, but
you can't really blame them. Tournaments are such that everyone
wants to see a flop and hope for a big hand, but no one wants to
risk any more than is absolutely necessary. Limped pots are
particularly common in the early stages of tournaments, because there's a lot less worth
fighting for in the pot. As an event progresses, however, raises
will take precedence once the blinds become more and more
valuable. Seeing a lot of flops is one of the best things that
you can do in tournament poker provided that you have sound
post-flop skills. If you frequently find yourself in
uncomfortable post-flop situations, however, you may try to
dwindle down the field a bit more when you have the opportunity
pre-flop.

There's a big difference between playing a pot just because
it's limped and playing a pot that might be limped. Since this
might be a bit confusing, here's an explanation of what this
means. If you are in late position with a total junk hand and
there are five limpers involved, it doesn't necessarily mean
that you should be calling. There are plenty of situations where
your hand is going to be useless no matter what you do.

If you play enough tournaments (or even cash games), you'll pick up
on those players who are action junkies and will try to see
every flop that they possibly can, but you don't want to be that
person. Now, playing a pot that might be limped means that you
have a mediocre hand, but would still be comfortable with
calling a raise. Say you are in middle position with a suited 8
9. You don't want to raise, you don't want to fold, but if you
limp and face one moderate raise, you would be happy to call.

These are the exact hands that make the most sense to
limp with. Limping with super strong hands will mean that
you are selling yourself short. Limping with super weak hands is
a waste of time and money. Limping with hands that want to see a
flop at a fair price is practical.

Contradictions

Tournaments are often times seen as a playground of
contradictions. Limping into a lot of pots is widely regarded as
one of the worst strategies for online cash game players. This
type of play is punished by more aggressive players. When you
shift into the tournament scene, however, it's all but
required. This brief section was added in so as to alleviate the
concerns that a number of players inevitably have. Don't be
misled into thinking that limping all the time is great,
because it's not; it just so happens that sometimes tournaments
cater to limped pots.

Playing Post-Flop

It should go without saying that if you totally miss the flop
in a limped pot, there isn't much that you need to worry about
in the way of post-flop strategy. Since there's so little money
in the hand and you have a small chance of winning at showdown,
placing any bets or making any calls would just be wasteful. You
might be able to push some people off of their hands, but for
what? The risk vs. reward in this spot just doesn't make sense.
If you miss in a limped pot, move on.

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make in a limped pot
is to slow play. What this means is that if you manage to hit
the board, you should be betting out right away almost always.
First, the pot is already small, so anything that you hope to
win is going to require some extra work on your part. Second,
slow playing in a limped pot is going to make your hand strength
glaringly obvious. You don't want to be making massive
check raises on dry boards when you managed to flop two pair. Either
you are going to be in a cooler situation or you'll be scaring
others out of the pot.

Think of all the reasons why checking a good hand on the
flop while in a limped pot is bad. Your ultimate goal is to
make as much money as possible. The first thing that you need to
do is weed out the field and get value from anyone who wants to
continue. In order to do this, you'll need to be betting out
so as to make money from anyone chasing. Checking is going to do
nothing more than allow a free card, which in turn sacrifices
the value in your own hand. Bet out and build the pot, unless of
course you are content with winning nothing more than the
blinds.

Not only is betting out going to be much more deceptive than
check raising, but it's also going to give you a better feel
for where you stand in the hand. If you flop a hand like bottom
two pair, you'll know that you are strong, but you should still
give some consideration to the possibility that you aren't
ahead. If you make a bet with this hand and face a re-raise, you'll be able to reevaluate where you stand and how you plan to
move forward. Imagine that you had check raised instead. You
would be much more likely to go all in right then and there. If
you think that slowing down and controlling the pot size is in
your best interest, a lead bet is going to give you this
opportunity, whereas a check raise will make it quite difficult.

The fact is that most limped pots aren't going to end up
being raise wars post-flop. You are really going to be aiming
for a chance to win a decent pot much more often than you'll
ever be stacking someone. With this information in mind, you
should know that value betting is absolutely crucial. You are
essentially trying to create the most profit possible out of
what was once nothing. You need to be able to string your
opponents along. Proper bet sizing is what will allow you to
turn a limped pot into a respectable win.

If you are trying to get fancy against an opponent who only has a mild interest in
the hand to begin with, you are only hurting your chances of
making any money at all. In other words, keep your play in line
with the context of the hand. You should be trying to coerce
your opponents into forgetting that the pot was even limped in
the first place by extracting one sizable bet at a time while
not throwing up any red flags. Limped pots are what allow
players to compile moderate wins while they wait for those rare
massive wins, and they can and will make a big difference in
your bottom line when all is said and done.